Welcome back True Believers! When we last left Team 7, they were just about to face off against the nuke-nin Zabuza and his mysterious accomplice Haku. However, something seems to be happening to Sasuke that may help turn the tide again these two mercenaries. Could it be that his latent X-Gene is finally becoming active? There's only one way to find out, on with the fanfic...
Chapter 8: The Coming of Winter.
"Well now," Zabuza grinned as he and Haku faced their opponents, seemingly unfazed by the swift and brutal destruction of his clones. "He was able to best my Mizu Bushinn on his own this time. It looks as if the brat has matured into a worthy rival, eh, Haku?"
Haku was silent for a moment, still staring at Sasuke's inhuman, glowing eyes. They seemed to be boring right through him and into his very soul! Something inside them spoke of a lust for power and vengeance that was so overpowering; it took all of his nerve not to shrink back from their gaze. Silently cursing himself for being so foolish as to lose focus, he shook off any wary feelings he had and set his mind to the task at hand. "Indeed," he finally replied.
"This one's mine," Sasuke growled in annoyance. The sudden surge of power he'd just experienced had cranked up his confidence to near insane levels. He wasn't sure what to make of this power, if it was his Sharingan activating or what. All he knew was that he felt as if he could take on the Kami themselves and pull Heaven from it's foundations on a whim!
"Heh, why don't you go and oblige the brat, Haku?" preened Zabuza as he cast a side-long glance at his accomplice. His beef with the Copy-nin could wait for a while. Right now, he figured he'd have some fun as he watched Haku put the black-haired brat in his proper place.
"Of course, Zabuza-sama," Haku complied before vanishing in an icy whirlwind. Sasuke immediately turned in his defensive stance and brought his kunai to bear just as the masked ninja materialized before him, a senbon clutched firmly in his grasp and directed at the boy's sternum. The two bladed weapons struck each other with a loud clang! that echoed and reverberated off the surrounding metal of the bridge. That sound was just the first of many that would be heard as their battle began.
Meanwhile, at Tazuna's home...
Inari sat quietly in his room with his window open to the sea, still reflecting on what Kakashi had told him about Naruto the night before. The blonde shinobi had bolted out the door as soon as he was awake and dressed. Seeing as he'd been late for his team's mission today, he was going to have to sprint hard to catch up with them. His thoughts concerning the X-Man were suddenly shattered and forgotten as his mother's frightened scream reached his unsuspecting ears. Without a second thought, he rushed down the stairs to the kitchen where his mother had been merrily preparing breakfast. Upon arrival, he saw two of Gatou's burly samurai bodyguards towering over his mother. "Mama!" he yelled in fright, drawing the men's attention upon himself.
"What'da you want, brat?" growled the one with an eye patch, whose name was Waraji. The man gave off so much killer intent that it was almost nauseating! Inari had his doubts that the man was even remotely sane the second he laid eyes on him.
"Inari, run!" shouted Tsunami protectively.
"Should we grab him too?" Waraji asked his partner, Zouri.
"We only need one hostage," reasoned the hatted samurai coldly. When he heard this, Inari's heart immediately leapt into his throat.
"Heh-heh, too bad for you, kid," Waraji grinned menacingly as he unsheathed his katana, its bladed edge glistening in the light. Inari, frightened out of his mind, backed up a ways until he hit a wall. There was nowhere else to run. Unable to do much of anything else, he let out a slight whimper that caused the pirate-looking samurai to snicker in amusement.
"Wait!" Tsunami commanded with ferocity, causing Waraji to stop short of slaying Inari. The woman now had an enraged look in her eyes as she glared at him. "If you dare to touch my child, I swear that I'll bite through my tongue and drown in my own blood! Then, what will you do for a live hostage?!"
After a moment of unbearable silence, Zouri nodded to his slash-happy partner and the one-eyed man returned his katana to its scabbard, though he didn't look too happy about it. He'd been itching to cut someone today, and just as it seemed he'd get his chance, this had to happen! Just his luck! "Be grateful to yer ma, kiddo," he sneered as he grabbed Tsunami by the arm and hauled her to her feet. As they roughly led his mother out of the house, Inari sank to the floor in shame and sadness.
'I'm sorry mama,' he thought as he began to cry. 'I'm so sorry. I'm a weak, little crybaby... I can't save you... and I'm afraid! I don't wanna die!' As he sat there, shivering and bawling his eyes out, he wondered what was going to happen to him. Then, his mind turned to the words of his father, as well as those of Naruto and Kakashi. Words about protecting that which was most precious to him with all of his might. In that moment, he knew that they were all right and that he had to do something.
"Wait!" he called after them as he bolted out the door and onto the patio.
"Heh, looks like the brat came back," chortled Waraji in amusement, tightening his grip on Tsunami's arm as the boy came into view.
"Y-you let go of my mama right now!" Inari yelled angrily as he charged the two samurai, prepared to let them have it even if they did kill him. As he drew closer, Zouri and Waraji decided they'd had enough of him and drew their katana to end the boy's interference once and for all. Just as he reached them, they brought the blades down with incredible strength, expecting to cleave the Inari in two. Much to their surprise, however, their blades only tore through a well placed log that had appeared in the spot were Inari had been only seconds ago.
"A kawarimi!" Zouri exclaimed in disbelief.
"Sorry I'm late," came a voice from behind them. Instinctively both assassins wheeled around to see a blonde-haired kid in a weird red and black combat uniform standing over Tsunami, who had fainted from fright, with Inari at his side. Apparently, it was Inari that the kid had apologized to. "Good job distracting them Inari," Naruto smiled, ruffling the boy's hair, seeing as his hat had fallen off during the scuffle. "While they were focused on you, I was able to rescue your mom."
"Naruto!" Inari exclaimed in relief. "How did you know they were coming?"
"Simple," answered Naruto matter-of-factly. "While I was on my way to the bridge, I saw a bunch of trees had been slashed by something really sharp, as well as a dead boar with similar injuries." Upon hearing this, Zouri shot Waraji an enraged scowl. His partner's impulsive need to slash things had given them away, the idiotic fool! "Now then," the blonde continued as he got to his feet and stepped between his friends and the two thugs, "these two have a lot to answer for."
"Heh, what're you gonna do, kid?" Waraji snarled as he rushed the blonde, Zouri following suit.
"Just this," Naruto smirked, dropping into a firing crouch. He leveled his hands at the charging samurai and shot eight of his claws at them. Expertly aimed, the plasma blades buried themselves deep into both of their hands just as they reached to draw their blades once more. The two assassins fell to their knees, howling in pain as they clutched their now useless digits, smoke wafting from where the blades were burning away their skin and into their bones. A second later, Naruto flickered into view behind them and quickly dispatched them. Waraji he felled with a solid roundhouse kick to the temple, Zouri was unceremoniously hefted from the floor by the collar of his jacket and then violently shoulder-slammed into a wall. Both thugs crumpled to the floor in a broken heap.
"Whoa," marveled Inari. Naruto had just taken down two of Gatou's thugs like they were nothing! "That was amazing."
"That was nothing," Naruto replied as he stripped the men of their swords and tied them up with a few lengths of tetsugen wire. "They had it coming. Anyhow, I just wanted to say... I'm sorry. You're not a baby Inari. You really are a strong boy."
Hearing Naruto say those words... it was like nothing Inari had even felt before. He couldn't help it and started to cry again, not because he was sad, but because he was happy. "Oh no!" he sniffled as he tried to wipe his eyes. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry... Now you'll just make fun of me again..."
"No way!" Naruto said sincerely. Inari looked up at him in surprise. Naruto's eyes had a kind of far away look in them, like he was remembering something like this that had happened to him before too. "There's nothing wrong with crying when you're happy... Hey, I've gotta head for the bridge; my friends will probably need my help. Can you handle things here?"
"Sure thing Naruto!" Inari assured him, wiping his eyes and giving him a thumbs up. Naruto smiled warmly at the boy and returned the gesture, then promptly vanished from sight. As he bounded through the tree tops at a break-neck pace, he took a second to look over his shoulder at the Tazuna house.
'Heh, this hero thing is hard work,' he smiled as he ran. 'But, it's all worth it in the end.'
Unknown to Naruto, another figure had seen his dust-up with the two samurai. It was the man that Naruto had met with a few days ago in the marketplace. From his position behind a nearby tree, the stranger simply shrugged and removed his slouch hat. Knowing that the forest's shadows would hide his activities perfectly, he knelt down and quietly laid his briefcase on the ground.
'Well, guess now's as good a time as any,' he conceded as he popped open the case and removed a few odd looking items from it. He had more equipment stashed away a couple miles from here, but he decided he could retrieve it in a few minutes. One of the items, a gleaming Bowie hunting knife, he silently slid into a sheath attached to one of his boots. A moment later, he got to his feet and strode back through the forest with stealth that even a ninja would respect. 'Time to get things going.'
Back at the Bridge...
Team 7, Tazuna, and Zabuza all watched as Sasuke and Haku went at each other like cats and dogs. As far as a winner went, it seemed like that wouldn't be decided until one of them was dead. A more than likely outcome, given the violence with which both teens assaulted one another. Sasuke brought his kunai around for another attack, whipping the bladed edge at Haku. The masked ninja responded by blocking the knife with his senbon at the last second. All the while, Sasuke had been grinning inwardly with wild, unmitigated glee. The power he felt emerging inside of him was incredible! It drove him with a kind of speed and strength he'd never thought possible! Feeling bold, he aimed a straight punch at Haku's masked visage. The boy quickly raised his hand and expertly caught Sasuke's fist in the center of his palm.
And that, was a big mistake...
All of a sudden, both combatants felt an overwhelming sensation overtake them. For Sasuke, it felt like torrent of raw lava coursing through his entire nervous system. Immediately, he felt the level of power within him spike exponentially, as if something inside of Haku had supercharged him. For Haku, however, it felt as though he had been struck by lightning or forcefully jammed into a power outlet. The shock from contact made the veins bulge and pulse on his forehead and across his chest, his eyes went cloudy and started to roll back in their sockets. Then, fearing that he would black out or worse, the masked ninja pushed Sasuke away from him, staggering back a few feet and gasping for breath.
'What was that?!' they both wondered for a moment. A second later, remembering where they were, they charged one another with a powerful sense of purpose. Again their blades clashed against each other fiercely, though this time they remained deadlocked, both of them attempting to gain ground over their opponent.
"I don't know what that was, but it won't help you," Haku said calmly, expertly masking his now growing paranoia. "I don't want to have to kill you, but you probably won't leave quietly, will you?"
"Don't be stupid," Sasuke rebutted arrogantly.
"Hmp, as I expected," admitted the masked shinobi. "However, you won't be able to keep up with my speed for long, and I've laid the ground-work for two attacks."
'Two attacks?' wondered Sasuke a trifle confused.
"First, there's the water splashed all around us," Haku explained, bringing one hand to his face in a ram seal. "Secondly, I've trapped one of your hands with this parrying move, which leaves you only one free hand to defend against my attacks!" Suddenly, much to the astonishment of Sasuke as well as Kakashi, Haku began to weave hand seals one-handed! This was a feat neither of the two had seen before, or even thought possible! Taking advantage of his opponent's surprise, Haku launched his attack. Stamping his foot on the ground twice, the water around them suddenly sprang to life and flew into the air to form thousands upon thousands of senbon made of ice, all aimed directly at Sasuke! 'Sensatsu Suishou (Death by a Thousand Flying Water Needles)!'
'So..."I don't want to have to kill you"?' sighed Zabuza as he watched his partner battle through the veil of mist and fog. 'I wonder if he truly means that...'
"Sasuke-kun!" yelled Sakura in a panic. Beside her, Kakashi was equally worried, but knew he could do nothing but watch. The second he left Tazuna and Sakura alone, Zabuza would close in and kill them both. He was between a rock and a hard place, unable to do anything to aid his young charge.
'Come on!' Sasuke shouted in his mind. 'Have to remember my training! I've got to summon all the chakra I can muster and focus it in my feet!' As he centered his thoughts on that one task, the needles surrounding him shot forward on Haku's command. Just as it seemed as though Sasuke was done for, something interesting happened, something that no one would've expected in a million years.
All of a sudden, the water beneath Sasuke's feet solidified and became as ice. An instant later, seconds before the needles reached him, a thick, glistening column of ice erupted from under him with tremendous force that shot the surprised Genin skyward! Upon hitting the column, every last one of Haku's needles shattered into a million pieces and fell to the ground. Needless to say, everyone present was amazed by what just happened, especially Haku and Zabuza.
'Impossible!' Zabuza raged inwardly. 'That power is the same as Haku's Kekkei Genkai! How in the world was he able to duplicate it?!'
'What is this boy, that he would be able to turn my own power against me?' wondered Haku in amazement.
'How did I do that?!' thought Sasuke as he landed unseen on a girder high above his adversary's field of vision. He was silent for a moment, staring down at his hands as though they had become something foreign to him. He had only meant to use his chakra to propel himself into the air, then that happened! After a moment, it dawned on him: when Haku had caught his punch a minute ago, that spike of power he'd felt must have caused this! It was as if he had leeched off some of his opponent's abilities and made them his own, enabling him to manipulate ice like he could. 'If that's the case...,' he concluded, reaching for a handful of shuriken. He focused on them intensely for a moment, as he had done with his feet, and a thin layer of ice slowly began to coat their edges. In seconds, they sported a number of icy, barb-like projections and the actual blades looked as though they could shred steel. Sasuke grinned slyly at this sight in mute satisfaction. 'It looks like the tables have turned.'
Deciding to re-enter the fray, he executed a perfect back flip off of his perch and loosed his icy shuriken at his opponent. Haku looked up just in time to see the projectiles bearing down on him and hastily leapt back to avoid them. Skidding safely to a stop, he suddenly felt a breath of cold air brush against the back of his neck, causing the hairs along his spine to stand on end. "You're not that fast," Sasuke taunted from behind his masked enemy. "Now you're the one who has to worry about avoiding my attacks."
Haku turned to face the demon-eyed boy and was greeted by the sight of him bearing down on him with looked to be a tri-pronged kunai coated in ice. Repressing his astonishment, he brought up a hand to block the assault and prevented the boy from striking him. Much to his surprise, Sasuke simply flicked the knife at his head, forcing him to duck low to avoid a sudden lobotomy. Sasuke had planned this however, and swiftly delivered a powerful kick to the masked ninja's head that sent him hurling backwards and skidding to the feet of his master, who looked less than pleased by this sudden turn of events.
'Sasuke... what on earth are you?' Kakashi mused in awe as his student calmly regained his combat stance. From his experience in the ANBU Black Ops, he knew that Hyton (Ice Style) techniques, like the one's Sasuke had begun using, came from one of to places: the Land of Snow, and an extinct clan that was rumored to have originated from the Land of Water. How Sasuke had been able to perform such techniques without having seen them or possessing the extinct clan's Kekkei Genkai was mind-boggling, but he'd worry about that later. Kakashi turned his attention back to Zabuza and smirked beneath his mask. "You both had that coming for under-estimating my team, and for the name calling. He may not look it, but Sasuke here is the top graduate from the Konohagakure Academy; Sakura is our sharpest mind; and let's not forget about our maverick ninja, the one-and-only Naruto!"
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh," chuckled Zabuza as his partner got to his feet. "Haku... Do you understand that if this continues, you'll most likely be killed at the hands of the very person you sought to spare?"
"Yes, I do," Haku nodded, forming an odd seal with his hands. "What a pity." Suddenly, the air around them grew intensely cold. As if by magic, the water surrounding Sasuke began to rise from the ground and shape itself into a series of flat square-like shapes, which then changed reflective panels of ice. Each one of the mirror-like slabs encompassed Sasuke completely in a perfect 360 degree dome of sorts. Seeing that his creation was finished, Haku stepped forward and seemed to meld into one of the panels. A moment later, his image appeared on every one of them, even the one that hung directly above Sasuke. "Makyou Hyoushou (Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors)."
"Blast!" Kakashi said as he leapt to aid his young student. However, Zabuza overtook him by a second and blocked his way. The nuke-nin's eyes seemed to be laughing at him sadistically, daring him to try something stupid.
"Let's not forget, I'm your enemy," Zabuza taunted. "Our children can play together, while mine kills yours."
"Now that this is in place," Haku said, his reflections repeating his words in unison, "allow me to show you some real speed!" Before Sasuke even had a chance to attempt and contemplate what he meant by that, he was instantly struck from a thousand points at once, over and over again. It felt like a million needles were digging into his flesh and he was helpless beneath their master's hand. It would ease for a moment, just enough for him to glare at Haku with his still glowing eyes, then it would abruptly begin all over again, with the pain worsening each time.
"Arrrggh!! Sasuke bellowed in pain as the assaults continued.
"Sasuke!" Kakashi and Sakura cried out as their friend was put under the needle once more.
"Any sudden moves from you, Kakashi, and I'll kill those other two!" threatened Zabuza, a hint of seriousness behind his voice.
"Gggh-Gyaaggh!" Sasuke howled once more as Haku launched another salvo.
As she watched her crush brutally attacked over and over again, Sakura stood wondering what she should do. She wasn't sure how the others would react to her powers, and she was afraid that they would reject her for them. Just when she thought she wouldn't be able to bear the idea any longer, she remembered what Naruto had said to her when she first found out she was a mutant. "It's just who you are, nothing more and nothing less." In that moment, she knew he was right. She didn't care if they rejected her or not, right now someone she cared about who needed her. "Tazuna-san," she said firmly as she focused on her newfound power, "I'm sorry... but I'm going to have to leave your side for a little bit."
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Tazuna knew there wouldn't be any reasoning with her whatsoever. "Alright," he nodded in understanding. "Go ahead, I'll be fine."
Without a word, Sakura dashed towards the battle before her with renewed vigor and called up the ambient beta energy surrounding her. Immediately, a pair of glowing golden orbs enveloped her hands and began to pulse with the same intensity as her anger. Ever since she'd discovered her powers, she'd been secretly training herself to use them if something like this ever happened, particularly in ways that Naruto had described Cardiac using his abilities. Skidding to a stop a few feet from where her sensei stood, she lowered her hands at shoulder level and aimed the tips of her fingers at the ice mirrors surrounding Sasuke. As she did so, the smaller orbs that flew in lazy circles around her hands began to draw themselves into their larger counterparts, adding to their already intense glow.
'What?! Sakura too?!' marveled Kakashi in confusion as he saw what his student was doing. What in the name of the Shodai Hokage was happening to his students?!
"Let Sasuke-kun go!!" yelled Sakura in rage. With that, a huge beam of concentrated beta energy erupted from her outstretched hands and shot towards her crush's icy prison. The powerful blast struck two of the ice mirrors head on and resulted in a massive explosion that sent huge chunks of debris flying in all directions. However, when the dust settled, there wasn't a scratch on either mirror.
"That was quite the display of firepower," admitted Haku as his head emerged from one of the mirrors to look at the kunoichi with renewed interest. "But I'm afraid that it will take something a lot more powerful than that to destroy these mirrors."
As if to counter his statement, a smaller beam of orange light came streaking out of the thickness of the mist to nail Haku across the full of his mask and send him tumbling to the ground... hard. Upon closer inspection, the masked ninja saw that the projectile was a glowing blade of energy, and that it had impaled itself into the concrete. A fraction of a second later, a small explosion of smoke detonated off to the right of where Kakashi and Zabuza were facing one another. Little by little, the smoke began to clear, and everyone could make out a now familiar figure decked out in a red and black X.S.E. Combat Uniform.
'Heh, never thought I'd be happy to see that show-off again,' Sasuke thought as he started to pick himself up off of the ground, blood streaming from a number of cuts along the entirety of his frame.
"Who...?" Sakura wondered aloud, holding her breath and hoping it wasn't another enemy.
"Who else Sakura-chan?" Naruto grinned as the smoke finally dissipated, his jacket rippling dramatically in the breeze. His plasma claws were fully unsheathed and he had a wild, mischievous look in his eyes. "Naruto Uzumaki-Howlett, at your service!!"
Alright, Naruto has finally arrived to aid his fellow shinobi against their adversaries! Will they be able to defeat Zabuza and Haku? How will Sasuke's mutation affect his future plans for revenge? And who is that strange figure that claims to be associated with Naruto, and what does he plan to do? Stay tuned to find out True Believers, and remember to R & R!